Those self-actualized animals down at Farmer Brown’s return for a welcome new caper. Their leader, Duck—who reads the farmer’s newspaper daily—notes that the upcoming county fair will feature a talent show. Bent on first prize (a “slightly used” trampoline), he directs the cows’ rehearsals of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” the sheep on “Home on the Range” and the pigs’ slumber-inducing interpretive dance. Since Farmer Brown can’t trust this crafty herd, he loads them into the truck, parks and heads off for the fair’s free barbecue. The animals—naturally—enter the contest and perform, with decidedly mixed results, and it’s Duck who once more brings home the bacon. When Farmer Brown resumes snooping outside the barn that night, he hears “Dooby, dooby BOING! Fa la, la, la BOING! Whacka, whacka BOING.” Yet again, Lewin’s watercolors delightfully extend Cronin’s text. Her gestural black brushstrokes enliven everything from a bristly welcome mat to the animals’ clandestinely pleased expressions as their duped farmer crowds them into the fair-bound truck. (Duck, of course, rides shotgun.) Great fun. (Picture book. 3-7)
